Bento Baby Girl Quilt!

I have to say I loove this quilt.  The back is so soft and cuddle and the front is so fun and funky.

The pattern is called "bento," and its the first time I've tried it out.  I think I'm a fan!

Its posted on the Etsy store, if you're interested!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/71984152/bento-baby-girl-quilt

First Etsy Listing!

I just posted my first listing on Etsy ever! 

Yay!

I was originally making this as a gender neutral quilt but when it was all said and done, it looks like a boy quilt.

To see the listing on etsy, you can go here:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/71021486/baby-boy-jungle-quilt

New quilt for sale at The Ruffled Owl

Head on over to check it out!

Sorry the pics are a bit blurry...its the best I can get in our basement apartment with no natural light available during hours I'm not working!

http://theruffledowl.blogspot.com/2011/01/baby-quilt.html

Contact me if you're interested in purchasing.

Here's a sneak preview:



New Shop Name Will Be Announced Friday!

If I can make up my mind, that is!

Thank you thank you for all of your wonderful suggestions! Now I have to go into deliberation with my naming committee (aka Matt) to choose one!

'Till then I'll leave you trying to make up your mind which apron you want! I for one think I'm going to have to make myself one of these Mariellas for Christmas!

Last Chance To Win An Apron!!!

Okay folks, today's the day!

Enter your name suggestions for a chance to win an apron!

(And here's another fun tidbit...you get something even if I don't choose your name!)

So lay it on me! Whaddya got?

And here's a few more aprons I whipped up this weekend. 

 May I introduce:

A polka dot version of The Julia

I have to say I was stoked when I found this sweet pink polka dot to accent the pocket!

And for a new design, The Mariella

(done here in Christmas colors!)

Isn't my boy sweet posing?

And there's a cute ruffle detail on the pocket

Here it is with an obi-style tie

And tied in the back...

And lastly in honor of my first grade teacher (this one is actually for a teacher), The Miss Sandy

(sorry 'bout the pics, was rushing around this morning and couldn't get the darn thing to focus right...)

Have to say I love the button details on this...

So there you have it...wouldn't you like one of you own???



Weird Dog and You Can Still Win an Apron!

Yesterday morning I woke up with a terrible migraine.

I took some medicine and went back to bed, where Roy decided to join me once Matt had vacated his spot.

Upon me draping my arm across my forehead, I felt something cold and wet poke into my armpit. I open my eyes and there was Roy, happy as a clam to be as close to the source of all my humanly scent as possible. I was so tired I didn't even move but fell back asleep.

An hour later, I woke up and Roy's nose was still tucked snugly in my pit. What a weird dog...

He continued his attachment right up until I left for the day. Walking with his shoulder pressed against my leg, collapsing with a sigh on my feet when I sat down, nosing my arm to be pet and trying to get into the shower with me...when that didn't work he settled with lying right against the shower door.

Its funny how he can go from fiercely independent to intensely clingy.

After reading an article on Chesapeake Bay Retrievers that was written by someone who has been breeding them for 45 years, I think we have a better understanding of our Roy Boy.

They have a sense of justice, you see. Now, how can a dog have a sense of justice? Well anyone who's ever owned a dog who's gotten into the trash and then looked immensely guilty knows dogs at least know when they do something wrong. So maybe a sense of justice isn't too far of a leap...

See, Chessies will only obey you if they feel like you are justified in what you're asking them to do. The article focused on Chessies used for duck hunting, and the writer wrote that if they don't feel you are justified in your command, the dog will look as you as if to say, "Get your own damn duck."

Pardon the french, but this has become a catchphrase in our house.

If we are eating dinner, for example, Roy has no problem obeying our "Go Lie Down" command. But the other night we were just watching a movie...no food in sight...when Matt told Roy to lie down.

Where was the justice?

Roy paused and looked at him...and kept walking around. Matt tried again, in a sterner voice. Again, Roy looked at him, moved toward his bed...and kept on walking. By this time Matt was getting ticked (I was in hysterics). Matt raised his voice and told Roy to GO LAY DOWN.

If the dog could talk, he would have said, "Get your own damn duck."

And now we realize our weird dog has some sense of justice. There really was no reason he should have had to lay down...it was just bothering Matt that he wasn't!

Personally I think its pretty funny...

kinda like this picture of him rubbing his face all over our bathroom rug and my used towel...

On another note, you can still submit ideas for shop names to win an apron!  I'm leaning towards the more abstract names...especially ones that don't tie me into aprons or kitchen items necessarily.  What if I want to branch into dog capes or mittens? You gotta leave the door open for that, right? You never know...I may be the world's next greatest designer of finger puppets!!!

Just leave a comment either here, or on the Win an Apron page!

(Ooh, and stay tuned for two new apron designs to be shown this weekend!!!)

Win An Apron!

Okay folks.  You know I like cooking. And sewing. And over on The Giggling Gourmet I've got a page devoted to aprons I sell.  But there was a problem.

I found out The Giggling Gourmet is some lady in South Africa that has beaten me to it and copyrighted the name! Fiddlesticks!

So now I need a name for my little side shop I'm setting up.

If you come up with the winning name, you win a free apron!

(Men, you can get a manly BBQing apron in a manly fabric if you want...other than that I got nothin' for ya!)

Here is the criteria:

The name has to be original (google or bing it to make sure)

And that's about it!

You can submit as many suggestions as you like for multiple chances to win!

It can be abstract like  Film in the Fridge

Or explanatory like Hand Made Charlotte

Update 10/10/2010: I had the thought to include Thursday somewhere.  If you head over to our Thursday Farms blog you'll understand.  Any suggestions?

Leave your suggestion in the comment section on either this post or The Giggling Gourmet to be entered to win your very own ___(you fill in the blank)______ Apron!

Deadline is Tuesday, October 12th at midnight.

What're ya waiting for? Don't you want one of these?

or these?

Fabric Choices for Giggling Gourmet Aprons are Up!

Fabric I currently have available is up!

This doesn't mean I can't always get more if you don't like any of these, but personally I think its a great selection to start from. I'll be making myself one out of the blue ticking with cranberry trim...stay tuned!

Fabric Choices

Aprons from the Giggling Gourmet

*UPDATE: After realizing I wanted a shop name that would reflect a variety of craft items, and after a lot of help during the naming contest I'm now The Ruffled Owl. You can check out my Etsy store here and the blog here*

If you haven't headed over to The Giggling Gourmet The Ruffled Owl yet take a look! I think I may try to start selling a few of my aprons, and last night I posted pics of my lovely models Carol and Eleni on the Aprons For Sale page you can find just below the header.

hee hee hee I love this pic!

I don't have prices yet cause I'm still working out how much it actually costs me and how much time I spend on it (in between working full time, walking the dog, making dinner, doing laundry, cleaning up, trying to spend quality time with my hubby...yada yada yada).  Anyways, I really enjoy making these so why not do its some more!

Oh, and there's a few new posts on Thursday Farms about Contentment and Telling Your Money Where to Go and how we FINALLY paid off our credit card debt! Hallelujah!

So head on over and check it out!

All Duct Up

We're past the halfway mark of the month and the official toll yesterday was $86! I was pretty stoked that Rachel Meeks of Small Notebook mentioned me on her blog. She was the one who inspired the whole No Spend Month in the first place!

Now, I think, is where I need to start getting a little more creative with the food we have in our pantry.

Throw those canned pears on a spinach salad...figure out something to do with that can of organic pumpkin...(maybe pancakes? hmm....) and I should probably try to figure out how to preserve all those greens in our fridge before they go bad!

that's a lotta veggies!

On a totally different note, I've had this fabric for a month or so I've been wanting to make into a dress. If you know me at all, you know I like making quilts and like the idea of making my own clothes...but I haven't been too successful at it.

Part of it for me, is I have a hard time with gathering and ruffles. Quilts have such nice, straight lines...I can get that. But when it comes to fitting something on me it usually comes out looking like happy hands at home.

One dress I tried to have Matt pin the back while I was wearing it...let's just say it didn't turn out so good...

Then I heard about making a duct tape dress form from Threads Magazine online, and decided that would be a cheap way to fix the problem of fitting things well.

Granted theirs looks a lot cleaner than mine, but mine does the trick!

Matt wrapped strips and strips of duct tape around me while Roy lay with his head on my foot looking up all worried. I'll take that as a hint not to mummify him when he's gone.

It was rather an odd feeling walking around like a robot...not being able to reach up to help Matt cut the strips of tape...it was a teensy bit fun too...:-)

for Matt's eyes only

Then Matt cut up the back of the form, we peeled it off and taped it back together and I stuffed it with a couple of pillows.

Voila!

A dress form.

Using what we already had in the house.

Sure it might be a little deformed, but the measurements are still about the same!

Pinning things was so much easier this way!

It did take me about 4 rounds of pinning, sewing and cutting to get the whole thing to look decent, but its finally complete and I have to say I'm pretty pleased with it!

The front:

that's one big dog, you say? yes, we know

The back:

"Don't act like you're not impressed"...name that movie!

And I couldn't resist this one of me and my boy.

Now I'm off to change into sweats, run that crazy dog, fix up some greens and put my feet up!

Goodwill OUTLET.

Thought I forgot today, didn't ya?

Nope!

So the Goodwill Outlet. 

Picture Nordstroms. 

Now picture Walmart. 

And that's the level of difference between Goodwill and Goodwill Outlet. 

It's a large, dimly lit warehouse where there are large crates (probably 12 feet long by 3 feet deep) on wheels full of the goods in three big rows. Nothing is sorted--there's quilts in with Men's jackets, women's bras and kids jumpers. Burnt potholders, stained pillows, used underwear, dirty sheets...this is the stuff no decent Goodwill accepts. 

BUT...hidden in the soiled mess can be some decent stuff. 

After I got over the initial shock of the place I dug in. 

I sneezed. 

A woman next to me sneezed. 

The dust and dirt from the clothes was making everyone sneeze. 

There were only about 30 people in the whole warehouse, but they gravitated towards one another, anxious not to miss out on what someone else may be finding. I would be sorting through a pile and a woman literally came over and reaching in front of me began sorting before I could touch the pile beneath my hands. Good grief! Some clothing had tags, some didn't. Though it was gray and cool outside inside was muggy and hot. I could feel my cheeks flushing red as I pushed mounds of clothing aside--determined to find a jewel in this treasure hunt.

I did found a nice gray wool coat (dbl breasted pea coat) that had a missing button and a torn lining--but the wool was completely intact and the cut was really nice. Hmmm...project in the making? When I got home I googled the brand and found that the coat was worth over $200! I also found a button down brown shirt and a plaid country girl style button down shirt. Both were large ( I got guns, what can I say?) but what better way to learn to tailor them than with really cheap shirts I don't care if I screw up?!

The kicker of this place was that they weighed what you bought...by the POUND. I got that coat and two shirts for $4! Score!

So here's my first attempt at tailoring shirts, and I think I did a decent job!

And I got some gorgeous magenta acrylic fabric fabric and fun magenta buttons to remake my jacket...wish me luck 'cause that's a much larger bull to ride!

Onto my walk with Roy this afternoon. You know how (those of you who walk your dogs) sometimes you just brush against shrubs and plants that are overgrown into the sidewalk? Well I was about to do that today and quickly sidestepped after seeing this:

Uh...GIANT Spider! A Wolf spider! AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! For those of you who may be unaware of this fact, I hate spiders. Hate. So I nearly peed in my running pants almost running smack dab into this sucker! I stooped to watch it and it was wrapping its most recent victim around and around in its silk. Creepy. Want to know how big it was?

And your humor for the day? On a corner near where we live there's a run down house that's recently started to be renovated. The sign they've posted by their front door?

I was afraid to take the picture but it was worth the laugh!

And Laurie asked about our Roy Boy. Oh he's fine and dandy. This is his face when you ask him if he has dog breath. "who me?"

The little stinker managed to open the metal scroll we keep our marriage license in and chew off the right edge of it. Does that mean we're not married anymore? JUST kidding! I was pretty irate at first and was about to throw the torn up thing away and order a new one, when I decided to stick it in a book, flatten it all out and eventually I'll tape it back together and frame it. We'll laugh in a few months :-). Ok, we're already laughing. Having a dog has really taught us not to become too attached to material things because it could end up food tomorrow. Oh Life's little lessons...

till tomorrow...here's a little quote

“Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant? I’m halfway through my fish burger and I realize, Oh my God....I could be eating a slow learner.”

Matt's Birthday II & an Ammah Experience

I know it’s been awhile since the last morning cup—I’m sorry! Wow, it’s been over a month! Everytime I get a little bit of time to write I’m at work and then I have no pictures to send so I put it off until I get home and then I’m too busy to write…it’s a vicious cycle.

Well, spring is slowly arriving here in the Northwest. Crocuses came first, now daffodils are pushing their way through the mounds of fallen leaves and showing their brilliant colors. The trees, too, are beginning to bloom. Bright pink lines the street below our house now, and yesterday I saw a tree full of GIANT white buds! I'll send pics soon of those.

A bunch of you got to hear our Bainbridge Island story when I went home to OC for a day before heading to Arizona with my mom. Here’s the short version.Matt wanted to go to Bainbridge Island to celebrate his birthday, so we loaded up on a Saturday and drove down to the ferry. We parked our car in a long line of cars waiting to board the next ferry and decided to throw caution to the wind and go get lunch at McDonalds (a first for us since we've been together...over 4 years!). 

As we sat in our car watching the gulls swoop and listening to the radio and eating our perfectly done fries we were definitely enjoying ourselves. The ferry arrived and we were given the signal to start our engines.

Pffft pffft pffffffffffffft.

Nothing.

We'd killed the battery listening to the radio. I begin laughing and Matt does the part of the manly-fix-it-guy and goes and pops the hood. There's about 15 cars lined up behind us looking at us like we're idiots and I'm trying to get out "the battery's dead" through my now uncontrollable laughter as he scowls and looks at the engine as if he can figure out the solution by staring. He waves the cars to go around and we suffer 15 stares of "dumb people..." as they all drive by. 

I'm still in hysterics.

When they're all gone a short Chinese man pushing a dollycart with a portable jumper on it runs to our car with short little hops. "You got dead battery?" he says while a smile crinkles his face in two like a draped fabric. Matt grumbles "yes" and the guy jumps our car. "Ok, bye bye" he says and runs off again with short little hops. We drive onto the ferry but had to take turns sitting in the car while it ran to make sure we didn't have to see the Chinese man again.

When we got to Bainbridge we began driving around, trying to find a park or somewhere to go walking around. My GPS led us to Battle Ground Park—which turned out to feel more like a retirement center than a wilderness park so we loaded up again and ditched the GPS. We turned wherever it looked interesting, listening to the CD from our wedding and just enjoying the beautiful day. 

Hey, it’s an island so how lost could you get? 

We ended up at Fort Ward where we parked alongside the road, hopped the fence and went hiking down to the water. We had fun taking pictures of the sea anenomes and odd fungus-type-thingies until our stomachs told us it was time for dinner. Heading into town we found most of the stores closed, and the line for the waterfront pub we wanted to eat at out the door. It was Matt’s birthday so it was his call for dinner, so we got back in the car to find another place to eat. A half an hour later we ended up three doors down from the place we started at.

All in all it was a great day—and we finally rode the ferry!

The other major event in the past month was I got to go to Orange County and to Ammah’s in Arizona for 5 days. Matt dropped me off at 6:30 in the morning at the Seattle Airport where I grabbed a cup of coffee and hurried on the plane. My window seat had been taken by a 5 year old sitting next to his dad, and of course I wasn’t going to make him move. So I settled down in the aisle seat across from two rows full of six kids who were farting uncontrollably. The plane had to be de-iced so we sat there for an hour with no air whilst being fumigated by the children.

Good start.

Two hours later we landed at Long Beach where I got a breath of fresh ocean air. My dad picked me up and we headed to Huntington to eat lunch at Ruby’s on the pier. Man, it was good to see the ocean again! After my cheeseburger we got back in the car and headed to the Long Beach Aquarium. I’d never been, and I’ve gotta say it’s amazing! There were GIANT lobsters (I just wanted some garlic and butter…), beautiful jellies and friendly seals. We had a great time, although I think I busted my dad’s bubble a bit when I said that not all the brightly colored coral was real. “How do you know?” he asked. 

“Because its tilted on a rock and the bottom is flat…”

Around four I got a text from my best friend Charissa. She was going to San Diego to visit her boyfriend, so we thought we’d squeeze in a visit! Dad and I picked her up from the airport and headed home.

By this time I was fading fast. I’d gone to sleep around 3 (thanks to my husband who I still have more fun talking to than sleeping) and gotten up at 5 so I was desperately needing a nap. It was good to see my home again, though. Driving through Tustin Meadows and seeing the pine trees, hugging my mom, petting Simba our decrepit 14 (yes, 14) year-old dog who surprisingly remembered me. Charissa wanted a Starbuck so I drug my weary buns to go with her knowing I wouldn’t have much time with her. Turns out I was more of a pain tired so when we got back I was forced (gladly) to take a nap. As I slept my family (blood and otherwise) arrived for a night of food and games. I was a much happier person when I woke up (as Charissa can attest to) and we had a wonderful night of laughing and eating and yelling our guesses for Catch Phrase.

OH, and I brought down my sewn together quilt top from the wedding—the one where people signed squares? If you didn’t get to sign a square at our wedding and would like to, there are still blank ones left and I left it with my mom. We’d love to have everyone’s name on there!

The next morning we were up bright and early and I packed up my wedding dress, some photo albums and books and other knick knacks from my childhood to take back to Seattle with me. Mom and I loaded in the car, put on the roadtrip mix I had made and were off to Prescott Valley.

For those of you who know Ammah (which I’m pretty sure is everyone), you know she has always had dogs (and cats and the occasional bird) that add to the zoo of her home. Sadly, Milo and Zaccheus have both passed on (they lived good long lives), and Champ is the last of the zoo. Mom and I were planning to take Ammah to a shelter to find another little dog to keep her and Champ company…she’s not really ever been a one animal kind of lady. We pulled in the driveway and as Ammah opened the door I heard the familiar yap of Champ and then saw another figure appear through the screen door. A small, white figure adding his own yap. Enter Buddy, the one year old shitzu that her neighbors could keep. Buddy is missing most of his lower teeth which gives him a pouty expression all the time, and the top of his head is shaped like a Mongolian hat—so I started calling him “Mongol” which turned to “Mongo.” This irritated Ammah, of course, and even more so because he responded to it right away! Hahahaha. We dined on red beans, cornbread and fried okra and were just about to settle down in front of the TV after our 8 hour drive when the doorbell rang.

“Who could that be?” Mom and I asked as Ammah just smiled and answered the door. Two of her friends were there—a coworker and her mom. She’d invited them over for coconut cake. They hugged us like old friends and Mom and I—still without a proper introduction and having NO idea who these people were—hugged back and said how good it was to see them (exchanged wide eyed looks the whole while).

We settled down for coffee and cake at 8:30 or so. Nine came and went. We discussed the new botanical gardens in Phoenix…exciting. Then ten rolled around. I disappeared into the bedroom after thankfully hearing Matt call my phone. When I came back they were talking about “Oscar going in for surgery.” Oh how sad, I said. Then they said something about the vet. Oh, a dog I guess, poor thing. The mom was worried about him going under, and wanting to be there when he came to. Then they mentioned the tumor…awww I still hemmed and hawed along with Mom. Then they talked about the tumor being under its wing.

Wing? 

They’re doing surgery on a bird?

Yup, Oscar was a cockatoo.

 I gave up trying to be interested and went to the floor to play with Mongo. Mom joined me. Finally, close to eleven they took their leave. Mom and I were nearly passed out on the floor by this time, and Ammah’s excuse of not telling us she was expecting company was, “I knew if I told y’all you’d say nooo.” Darn right.

The next day we just relaxed, headed into town to see my favorite little shop "The Raven" and loaded up on ingredients I needed for a dinner I was going to make for them. This being a Japanese-style pot roast I needed sake. Ammah, wouldn't you know, loves sake. Mom thought wine would go best with pot roast and me? Well I felt like a nice cold beer. So there we were. Three women and our three different types of alcohol. Now don't you worry, we didn't get anywhere near drunk. But it was sure fun to be barely tipsy and act like the most raving lunatic at a bar. Where's the fun in being drunk if you can't remember it, right? So we acted drunk on one beer, one glass of wine and two sips of sake and had all the more fun for it! 

Monday came next and I had a hankering to get out in the wilderness of the southwest so we headed to Sedona. Ammah claimed she was up for a hike all decked out in cap, fanny pack and walking stick but within 50 feet she was panting and gasping and clutching her chest.

I looked over her shoulder at the car.

"Ammah, would you like to go in front?" Mom asked. That little devil took off for the next mile like a rocket! Turns out she just doesn't like to be dragged along...but then, who does? We took the "coffee pot trail" and saw some of the beautiful works of God. Ammah also decided to try carrying her "walking" stick in every which way possible. When we got back to the car we had one thought in our minds.

MEXICAN FOOD. NOW.

I haven't had Mexican food since I left SAN DIEGO! And there was one place in town that was tradition to go to. MAN, it was good! I flew out of Prescott the next morning as the sun rose, and was back in Seattle by noon.

So that's been the big events in the past month. That and we've (mostly Matt) discovered Roy doesn't mind wearing clothes. (I'll post pics later)

So that's it! We'd love to hear from you all as well! Much love and we miss you all!